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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Edinburgh Futures Institute
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260918T093000
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DTSTAMP:20260917T184930Z
CREATED:20260625T115638Z
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UID:10000372-1789723800-1789732800@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:When Universities Decide: From Collective Inquiry to Public Consequence
DESCRIPTION:Universities are under growing pressure to respond to rapid technological change\, social challenges\, financial constraints\, and shifting public expectations. Yet decisions about the future of higher education are rarely straightforward. How should universities balance competing priorities? What values should guide their choices? And who is affected when difficult decisions are made? \n\n\n\nOrganised by the Una Europa Future University Lab\, this participatory event invites attendees to explore the tensions\, trade-offs\, and responsibilities involved in shaping the university of the future. Through a collaborative workshop\, participants will examine different perspectives on the purpose of the university and consider how institutions navigate competing demands in practice. \n\n\n\nRather than seeking simple answers or easy consensus\, the session will encourage critical reflection on the choices universities face and the consequences those choices carry. Together\, participants will explore what it means not only to imagine the future university\, but to make decisions that help bring it into being. \n\n\n\nSpeaker Biographies\n\n\n\n\n\nFederica G. Pedriali\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFederica G. Pedriali is Professor of Literary Metatheory and Modern Italian Studies at the University of Edinburgh and a Research Affiliate at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. Her work spans continental philosophy\, biopolitics\, narratology\, and political ontology\, with a sustained focus on how collectives organise change\, conflict\, and the conditions of world-making. She has authored or edited twenty-four volumes and is the editor of The Diaphragm of Politics: Roberto Esposito and Italian Thought beyond the Machine (Edinburgh University Press\, in press). Current projects include The Future of Change (forthcoming)\, When Universities Decide (in preparation)\, and The Roberto Esposito Dictionary (in preparation). A former Visiting Professor at Harvard and the University of Pavia\, she leads Europe and the World\, a flagship Una Europa research strand spanning eleven European universities. In 2024\, she was awarded the Knighthood of the Order of the Star of Italy in recognition of her distinguished career. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMateusz Hohol\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMateusz Hohol is Associate Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków\, where he serves as Director of the Copernicus Center for Interdisciplinary Studies and leads the Mathematical Cognition and Learning Lab. Holding a habilitation in psychology and a PhD in philosophy\, his research focuses on cognitive science\, mathematical cognition\, and the study of how minds acquire and process numerical and geometric concepts. He teaches in the Cognitive Science Programme and at the Doctoral School in the Social Sciences at the Jagiellonian University. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJake Broadhurst\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJake Broadhurst is a senior partnerships advisor at The University of Edinburgh and for 2 decades has helped create a wide range of academic-led partnerships.As chair emeritus of Future UniLab\, Jake helped the Una Europa alliance think-tank to explore the future of universities. Before joining The University of Edinburgh\, Jake worked as a project manager for a healthcare NGO in India\, did various roles in TV production in Spain\, DJed\, served as deck-hand on an oyster farm\, and was a countryside ranger. Jake founded TEDx University of Edinburgh and co-founded the World Access to Higher Education Day. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMichela Massimi\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMichela Massimi is Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author of Perspectival Realism (2022\, OUP\, winner of the 2023 Lakatos Award) and co-editor (with A.E. Brown and M. Jaspars of Ways of World Knowing (2026\, OUP). Michela has written extensively on realism and pluralism in science\, among other topics. Her most recent work is on the epistemic value of local knowledges\, their importance for better understanding the participatory nature of scientific knowledge\, and the philosophical foundations of the human right to science. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nShannon Vallor\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nProfessor Shannon Vallor FRSE serves as Co-Director of the Centre for Technomoral Futures at Edinburgh Futures Institute\, and holds the Baillie Gifford Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence in the University of Edinburgh’s Department of Philosophy. Professor Vallor joined the Futures Institute in 2020 following a career in the United States as a leader in the ethics of emerging technologies\, including a post as a visiting AI Ethicist at Google from 2018-2020. She is the author of The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking (Oxford University Press\, 2024) and Technology and the Virtues: A Philosophical Guide to a Future Worth Wanting (Oxford University Press\, 2016). She serves as advisor to government and industry bodies on responsible AI and data ethics. She is also Principal Investigator and Co-Director (with Professor Ewa Luger) of the UKRI research programme BRAID (Bridging Responsible AI Divides)\, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSoledad Garcia Ferrari \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nProfessor Soledad Garcia Ferrari is International Dean for the College of Arts\, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh\, where she leads global collaboration around research\, innovation and education. She has enabled and supported cross-university strategic partnerships such as such as with the MasterCard Foundation and the Una Europa Alliance. Soledad is Professor in Global Urbanism and Resilience and has extensive expertise in sustainable urban planning with a focus on community-empowerment\, participatory and co-creation processes\, towards increasing resilience and adaptation to climate change in urban areas. She is currently Earth Champion for Sustainable Cities at the Edinburgh Earth Initiative. Soledad is also Director of the Centre for Contemporary Latin American Studies\, Soledad through which she has promoted and supported cross-University research collaboration.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/when-universities-decide-from-collective-inquiry-to-public-consequence/
LOCATION:Room 2.55\, Edinburgh Futures Institute\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF
CATEGORIES:Future University,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/18-Sept-When-Universities-Decide-.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260918T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260918T153000
DTSTAMP:20260917T185036Z
CREATED:20260625T115932Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260917T185036Z
UID:10000373-1789740000-1789745400@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Building the University of 2050: Leadership\, Structure\, and Strategy
DESCRIPTION:Universities were built for a different age. As artificial intelligence\, demographic change\, geopolitical uncertainty\, and economic pressures reshape society\, long-established assumptions about how universities are governed\, funded\, organised\, and valued are coming under increasing strain. What kinds of institutions will be needed in 2050? Which traditions should be preserved\, and which structures may need to be reinvented? Bringing together perspectives from higher education leadership and technological change\, this session will ask whether the university as we know it is fit for the decades ahead – and what new models of knowledge\, learning\, and institutional life might emerge by 2050.  \n\n\n\nSpeaker Biographies\n\n\n\n\n\nVivienne Stern\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVivienne Stern took up the role of UUK Chief Executive in September 2022. Vivienne has over 25 years’ experience of working in higher education policy and politics at national and international level. She previously worked for the Chair of the Education Select Committee of the UK Parliament; as a policy specialist and then Head of Political Affairs for Universities UK; and most recently as the Director of Universities UK International (UUKi) which represents UK universities around the world. She is a member of the UK Government’s Soft Power Council; the Higher Educational Advisory Group; the Skills Advisory Group and the GREAT Private Sector Council. She is Deputy Chair of the Council for At Risk Academics and chairs its Nominations and Governance Committee. She was awarded an MBE for Services to International Education in the New Years’ Honours List 2022.  In 2021 Vivienne received the European Association of International Educators’ “Vision and Leadership” award. Vivienne is a graduate of the University of Cambridge\, where she studied English Literature.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJamie Bartlett\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJamie Bartlett is one of the UK’s leading technology writers and thinkers. His previous books include The People Vs Tech\, winner of the Transmission Prize and longlisted for the 2019 Orwell Prize for Political Writing\, and The Dark Net. In 2010 Jamie founded a research centre at leading ThinkTank Demos that specialised in designing and applying AI to understand social trends.He has written and presented several hit BBC podcast series\, including The Missing Cryptoqueen\, which reached number 1 in the podcast charts around the world\, and his Ted Talk about the dark net has been watched nearly six million times. He has previously written on the intersection of tech and politics for the Telegraph\, the Spectator\, and the Guardian.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBen Wildavsky\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBen Wildavsky is a visiting fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is the award-winning author of The Great Brain Race (Princeton) and the coeditor of Reinventing Higher Education and Measuring Success. His writing has appeared in The New York Times\, The Wall Street Journal\, The Atlantic\, and many other publications. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nChair: Marion Thain\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMarion Thain comes to Edinburgh Futures Institute from her role as Professor of Culture and Technology at King’s College London\, where she was Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities for 6 years. While at King’s she founded and led the Digital Futures Institute\, which grew out of her Centre for Attention Studies. She began her career as a Junior Research Fellow at Cambridge University\, and worked in English departments at Russell Group universities before moving to New York University as a professor of Arts and Literature (in English and the school of the interdisciplinary global liberal arts) and Director of Digital Humanities. She returned to the UK in 2018. Marion is interested particularly in the relationship between culture and technology (considering ‘technology’ in the broadest sense)\, and in formations of disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/building-the-university-of-2050-leadership-structure-and-strategy/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Level 0 Event Space\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Future University,Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/18-Sept-Building-the-University-of-2050.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260918T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260918T191500
DTSTAMP:20260625T120036Z
CREATED:20260625T120033Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260625T120036Z
UID:10000374-1789754400-1789758900@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Future University: Work and the Next Economy of Knowledge
DESCRIPTION:Artificial intelligence is transforming the world of work\, but its impact is not predetermined. As new technologies reshape professions\, workplaces\, and career paths\, universities face profound questions about the knowledge\, skills\, and values they should cultivate in future generations. How can higher education prepare people not only to adapt to technological change\, but to shape it? In this closing conversation\, Sarah O’Connor draws on her reporting and research into the changing nature of work to explore what makes work meaningful\, what risks we face as technology becomes more deeply embedded in everyday life\, and what role universities should play in building a more human-centred economy.  \n\n\n\n\n\nSarah O’Connor\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSarah O’Connor is a columnist\, reporter and associate editor at the Financial Times. She writes a weekly column focused on the world of work\, as well as longer features and investigations. She has won the Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils\, the Wincott Award for financial journalism\, Business Commentator of the Year at the Comment Awards\, Financial/Economic story of the year at the Foreign Press Awards and Business and Finance Journalist of the year at the British Press Awards.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nChair: Marion Thain\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMarion Thain comes to Edinburgh Futures Institute from her role as Professor of Culture and Technology at King’s College London\, where she was Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities for 6 years. While at King’s she founded and led the Digital Futures Institute\, which grew out of her Centre for Attention Studies. She began her career as a Junior Research Fellow at Cambridge University\, and worked in English departments at Russell Group universities before moving to New York University as a professor of Arts and Literature (in English and the school of the interdisciplinary global liberal arts) and Director of Digital Humanities. She returned to the UK in 2018. Marion is interested particularly in the relationship between culture and technology (considering ‘technology’ in the broadest sense)\, and in formations of disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity. Details can be found at https://www.marionthain.org 
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/future-university-work-and-the-next-economy-of-knowledge/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, Level 0 Event Space\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Future University,Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/18-Sept-Future-University-Work-and-the-Next-Economy-of-Knowledge.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260922T170000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260922T190000
DTSTAMP:20260824T124028Z
CREATED:20260824T124026Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260824T124028Z
UID:10000380-1790096400-1790103600@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Traveltech Meetup
DESCRIPTION:Sports\, Wellness & TravelTech: The Future of Active Travel \n\n\n\n​What happens when sport\, wellness\, travel and technology come together? \n\n\n\n​From major sporting events driving destination visits to the growing popularity of wellness breaks\, active holidays and experience-led travel\, the relationship between sport\, wellness and tourism is evolving rapidly. \n\n\n\n​Our September TravelTech Meetup will explore how technology is helping shape this growing space and the opportunities emerging at the intersection of sport\, wellness and travel. \n\n\n\n​We’ll bring together voices from across the sectors to explore questions including: \n\n\n\n​How is technology changing the sports travel experience?From ticketing and fan experiences to travel planning and destination discovery\, how can technology make it easier to travel for sport? \n\n\n\n​What is the future of wellness tourism?How are data\, AI and personalisation helping travellers discover and design more meaningful wellness and active travel experiences? \n\n\n\n​How can destinations make the most of major sporting events?Beyond the event itself\, how can technology help destinations manage visitor flows\, extend stays and create lasting economic impact? \n\n\n\n​Where are the opportunities for innovation?What new products\, services and experiences are emerging as sport\, wellness and travel increasingly converge? \n\n\n\n​Join us for an evening of discussion\, ideas and networking with people working across TravelTech\, tourism\, sport\, wellness and the wider visitor economy. \n\n\n\n​Whether you’re building technology\, working in sport or wellness\, managing a destination\, or simply interested in where these sectors are heading\, we’d love to have you join the conversation.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/traveltech-meetup/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Traveltech-Meet-up-16_Maddy-Burgoyne.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260925T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260925T153000
DTSTAMP:20260904T154952Z
CREATED:20260630T150621Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260904T154952Z
UID:10000375-1790344800-1790350200@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Governing AI in higher education: applying human rights to the post-AI condition
DESCRIPTION:This event explores how human rights can meaningfully shape AI governance in higher education and research. It considers higher education broadly\, including teaching\, learning\, research\, knowledge dissemination and academic work\, and frames the discussion through the “post-AI condition”: an environment shaped by socio-technical\, legal\, political-economic and cultural dynamics in which AI is omnipresent\, policy and regulation struggle to keep pace with Big Tech and Big AI\, and human rights are challenged. The event adopts a human rights approach to AI governance as a fundamental layer through which AI affects universities\, students\, academics\, researchers and democratic knowledge systems. Contributions address academic labour and procurement governance\, public AI and the rights to science and education\, data privacy and citizens’ agency\, and the role of higher education institutions in shaping accountable AI.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/governing-ai-in-higher-education-applying-human-rights-to-the-post-ai-condition/
LOCATION:Edinburgh Futures Institute\, 1 Lauriston Place\, Edinburgh\, EH3 9EF\, United Kingdom
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SRHE-event-26-Sept.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260930T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260930T170000
DTSTAMP:20260908T151355Z
CREATED:20260908T151308Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T151355Z
UID:10000381-1790784000-1790787600@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:Building Compassion in Financial Services Organizations 
DESCRIPTION:[11:00am–12:00pm ET / 3:00–4:00pm UTC] \n\n\n\nPlease join our global community of compassionate leaders and change-makers for a conversation on building compassion into the culture of financial services. The Center for Compassionate Leadership and the Compassion in Financial Services Hub at Edinburgh Futures Institute\, University of Edinburgh are delighted to host this special gathering\, that will open with a panel discussion followed by ample time for audience Q&A. \n\n\n\nOur panel includes: \n\n\n\n● Bill Mansfield\, Lloyds Bank North America \n\n\n\n● Omar Shaikh\, Global Ethical Finance Initiative \n\n\n\n● Liz Grant\, Compassion in Financial Services Hub\, University of Edinburgh \n\n\n\n● Monica Worline\, Center for Positive Organizations\, University of Michigan \n\n\n\n● Laura Berland\, Center for Compassionate Leadership \n\n\n\n● Evan Harrel\, Center for Compassionate Leadership
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/building-compassion-in-financial-services-organizations/
CATEGORIES:Talk/Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Global-Compassion.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261008T100000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261008T181500
DTSTAMP:20260917T104522Z
CREATED:20260916T141916Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260917T104522Z
UID:10000382-1791453600-1791483300@efi.ed.ac.uk
SUMMARY:The Binks Hub Celebration Day: Research with Communties
DESCRIPTION:This celebratory day will showcase the variety of projects and collaborations undertaken in partnership with the Binks Hub\, to mark the conclusion of the hub’s five-year research funding. \n\n\n\nDrop-in briefly or stay awhile with us! The day will feature a series of bookable workshops and sessions exploring participatory arts-based research methods and the outcomes of the projects. A collection of stalls\, information stands and a making space will be available to visit on a drop-in basis from 10am. \n\n\n\nThe day will culminate in an evening reception to recognise all that has gone into co-creating the research\, enjoy being together as we reflect on what has been achieved\, and enable you to explore new opportunities for communities\, artists\, practitioners\, and researchers to co-create together beyond the Binks Hub.
URL:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/event/the-binks-hub-celebration-day-research-with-communties/
LOCATION:Greyfriars Charteris Centre\, 138-140 Pleasance\, Edinburgh\, Edinburgh\, EH8 9RR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Celebration Day
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Collection-page-1-1024x512-1.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="The Binks Hub":MAILTO:binks@ed.ac.uk
END:VEVENT
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